George Farley

George Farley
Born Lancashire, England
Died 1693-12-27 Billerica, MA
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In Office 1661 - 1662
Preceded by Ralph Hill
Succeeded by William Tay
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In Office 1666 - 1669
Preceded by John Parker
Succeeded by James Kidder
Select Board
In Office 1688 - 1688
Preceded by Simon Crosby
Succeeded by Simon Crosby


George Farley was one of the first settlers of the Shawshin settlement, as Billerica was first known. A clothier by trade, he was also one of the town's earliest Baptists, and a member of the Baptist church in Boston. He married Christian Births in 1641, and died December 27, 1693.

His son Samuel, born in 1654, is the subject of an old dispute over which child holds the distinction of the first birth in Billerica: for years the honor was credited to John Stearns (also born in 1654), but a careful comparison of town clerk John Parker's original 1657 birth record against town clerk Jonathan Danforth's later transcription of it reveals a transcription error by Danforth that made Farley's birth appear to come after Stearns's. The earlier, original record makes clear that Samuel Farley, not Stearns, was actually born first.



References

  1. Hazen, History of Billerica (1883), Genealogical Register p. 47, FARLEY family #1
  2. Hazen, History of Billerica (1883), pp. 47-48: the "first child born in Billerica" argument (Samuel Farley vs. John Stearns)